Them

We all need change in our lives... and 23-16's need all the help they can get. Just as soon as my soul stock begins to rise exponentially, they heat/hate I'm receiving also starts to increase. I guess for ever action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yesterday I was called beautiful by a sista soul. Today I'm getting nothing but attitude from the 23-16's at Grady. I've been here for months, helping them operate as much as possible and saving them money. On the lo-end I believe they are somewhat intimidated by my focus. I'm very determined to succeed in physical therapy and now its like they all know and its hater season. After a great conversation with an older Black PT, I'm aware of the prejudice in the world of PT. As if my own attempts to get in aren't convincing enough...he told me about entire programs that I should avoid. Again, I'm taking the advise of an elder... I have a level of respect for my mentor and hope to accomplish much in preparation for PT school.

On another level... I'm fed up with some levels of competition. As american as baseball, the spirit of competition brings out the worst and best in each of us as we try to succeed. I have the Lord on my side and I am not easily discouraged. My passion lives to serve others ... the "servant of the Servant," that sista soul also said... tomorrow I get to express myself creatively at Luella's. Like never before, I love the microphone and the music all over again... my time to shine and share with the minds of the seeking. Never a dis song, just as real as it gets. Boo-ya-ka!

-delano

inspireD

There sure are days when staying connected is hard work. today is a different day. The sun came out this morning. It cleaved the clouds engorging my room with morning glory. I read some of my ancestral poetry and was delighted! I read in Gender Talk a book on gender relations in the Black/African American community. I listened to The Foreign Exchange album, which is actually called Connected. I listened to Roni Size, a composer of superior drum n bass music. And I made out with my pillow. Thinking about you. Feeling you. I almost sent you a text message yesterday. I find restraint much easier now, though day by day my desire to one day reconnect with you grows stronger. Life is not easy, nor is it promised... Therefore, I try to do my best to maintain and make sense of all the messages out here. I try to make calculated decisions that will allow me to live a prosperous, productive, and pleasing life. I try to really be myself no matter what...my best self. I am not always successful. I enjoy bright moments and revel ... It makes me want to cry when I am this happy. I think I've cried more in the past year than I have in my last 10-15 years of life. I am so thankful, so grateful to have met you. I am okay with living separated from you. I can even find joy in our being apart. This is madness! But a madness I embrace along with being black in America...having to be twice as good to achieve half as much. These fucks didn't hire me to work at this physical therapy clinic. I have theories...but, I am not discouraged...this one company will not stop my emerging legacy of healing. I got to both the initial interview and the follow-up early and was eager to learn...

"You cannot make me feel inferior without my consent," said Eleanor Roosevelt.

I have a physics test monday night... wish us well... I've been studying for days... Take care my sista... You are an inspiration.

-delano

new amsterDamn!!!!

you hear the train about 8 seconds before it rushes by, end to end silver gray cars, the squeaking breaks and bursts of air... flickers of faces inside a moving car blur by... silhouettes of graffiti barely visible and the cool darkness of the station below the concrete surface. The iron horse, galloping through the station, resting for moments only and then off again, express transit raising the blood pressure of the city. On schedule and round the clock, coursing through concrete and steel vessels and arteries... New York is an Organism. A microcosm of planet Earth, the stark diversity of the city allows me to stand next to cultural representatives from across the globe. Right here, right now...bunched on a sunday afternoon or at 4:45 am...

There is nothing like Harlem. The serene nostalgia of the Apollo Theater, the Soul Food spot on Malcolm X Blvd (owned by Asians), the Brownstones around 136th, near Columbia, and the popularity of Manhattan's sole IHOP. This place is exponentially urbana. I am just beginning to understand my love for her, Brooklyn. Bodegas 24-7, parties and booming peace and regulation in g-code. And the depths of hip hop culture and its uptown residents... like our first kiss... NY places a delicate one on my ego before politely asking me to fuck.

After our fist date?! Damn. And to think so many men, GREAT MEN, BEAUTIFUL SOULS, sistas, dancers, faces, bootys, brains, and talents. And she looked at me, long and slow... yeah, you could get it, NY...I'm f'n witcha vibe.

-delano

D ealing with it

Ya boy is doing his thing in school... 2 As in Statistics.... and Physics is being handled as well.

holla!

shawty yeah!

I was called back for a second interview with this great Physical Therapy Clinic!

I hope to learn front office operations, as I plan on owning a clinic one day myself.

• medical billing and coding
• insurance policies, practices, and procedures
• scheduling
• yoga / pilaties

Tomorrow I have an orientation at one of the top brain and spinal cord treatment facilities in the nation... hopefully I'll be able to make time to work the new job, keep up with school ,and log some time volunteering at this state-of-the-art Hospital. Valentines-WHAT? Friday should be a great day... going to New York Saturday...

-delano :c)

In Da Hizzouse

L5P - where all the cool people pass through once in a while...this artistic district is Atlanta's version of Greenwich Village... Last friday I stopped through to check on one of m favorite music spots and to take care of some business with an artist. It worked out great, me having a piece of artwork completed by the artist who started it about a week prior. To my delight I ran into an old aquaintence. She's doing well. She asked what I was doing for money. I told her what the deal was and she was like, "oh they make good money!" Mooooving along, nice to see you too.

SiDEbaR - I seriously missed out on RnB growing up! Attending private school and not being connected to the rest of the black community I toyed with few notions of like, let alone love.

Now in my mid twenties and with someone special in mind, I've found I really dig rhythm and blues. That reminds me of this really great book title by an author I can't recall at the moment: Sometimes Rhythm, Sometimes Blues.

That describes the life of some forms of love. But, in pursuing perfect, God-like love we try to love others without condition. For me, I'm impressed with God. I'm awed by what God can do for people... it's like how much of my interaction with this certain lady was mine at all...

It was nice to see my homegirl in L5P. She reminds me of you...being caught up the way I am makes me wonder how much of what I feel is really me... and there goes Lauryn Hill again, "I just want You Around..." Jesus. please be patient

-delano

The Stats

It's a sunny day somewhere else! But that's not stopping me from feeling warm and fuzz on this dreary Atlanta morning. I'm at Grady, gettig my career move on... Over the past few weeks my efforts have really been appreciated by both clinicians at Crawford Long and here at Grady. I'm excited about the field and am on top of the application process - December will be here before I know it!

Classes are going slightly better than expected...We'll see how I did on that Stat's test come thursday or next tuesday. I'm having fun studying, going out less, and still vibin to GREAT MUSIC!

My song of the season is "I'm Still Standing" by UK acid-jazz vocalist Omar. A blast from the past I can live with today! Also, I've been doing GREAT with not smoking black n milds and cloves... 2 blacks, 0 cloves in the past 5 weeks!

Alcohol consumption is at a minimum and I've been celebate for almost 2years... wow.

This is my grind. I know what type of job I want, just a matter of time before I'm able to begin my Doctoral program.

Rock Star is chillin. We had fun flirting over the weekend and even saw a show! The Jaspects opened up for singer song-writer Anthony David. Of course the night cap was bomb. We each had one drink at Beleza Lounge, a hip Brazillian themed chill spot. Cheek biting, need I say more? I think not. Well, space cadets, stay tuned for my next log... the life and times of a revolutionary gentleman...jazz crusader for justice, and prize fighter for freedom and poetry.

peace!

-delano